Faerie Tale
by HPManiac-forever
Summary: The girl, whose father didn't know about her..., the girl, who shared her birthday with the boy-who-lived... the girl who has powers he-who-must-not-be-named will do anything to obtain. Will she be the one to help the Chosen One to end it all? Image: For representative purposes only.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**On the crossroads**

_The sky was overcast with thunder rumbling down the slopes. The rain was pouring down as it had never before. There, in the little cottage on the slopes of the hill in South Hampshire, a woman, weak and frail, lay on the cot and a little girl of ten besides her. As lightening flashed across the sky, it illuminated the tear stained face of the child._

_ "Hush now, my love," the mother spoke slowly, "We spoke about this… I have to leave… but my child, I need to tell you something… I don't have much time left… I need to tell you about your father."_

_ The girl sniffled. She used to hound her mom almost everyday when she was younger about her father. But her mom used to always avoid answering and change the topic. But now, when her mom was about to tell her about him, "No, mom, I don't want to hear about him! If telling me about him will make you go away, I don't wanna know!" she cried._

_ "Shhh… now listen," the mother whispered. And the child finally knew the story of her father…_

* * *

It was a bright sunny morning that day. Calista Faye walked down the platform number nine and ten thrice up and down. She felt like a fool. The letter she'd got from her new school said platform number nine and three quarters. 'Huh, like that's possible!' she thought. She was supposed to board the train a week later. She had just arrived in London half an hour back from South Hampshire.

She still remembered the day of her mom's funeral. Her mom, Saphiera had been buried in the green pastures on the slopes of the hill, Fey's Castle, as her family had been for ages. It had been a bright sunny day unlike a night a month back when it had rained like never before. Neighbours had attended in full attendance, as Saphiera had been a well loved neighbour always helping and healing all wounded, for she had a wonderful healing touch. Some said she had magical healing hands. Saphiera and Calista always used to enjoy a private joke when people said this.

Because no one knew that Saphiera indeed had '_magic_' hands, so to say. She was a witch. Calista too, like her mother had powers. But not just healing ones. Though she was quite young, she could make things move without verbally saying anything. Saphiera used to admire Cali, as she was called, for it; but always rightly advised her not to let people know about it. In fact, no one in the small village knew about the two's powers.

Cali used to attend the local school where she was always up to some kind of mischief; sometimes, the warden's cat getting stranded on the roof, or the school bell signalling the day end rung too soon. Not a week passed when someone or the other complained to Saphiera about Cali and her naughtiness. But everybody loved Cali. She was as everyone agreed, one of the prettiest girls in town with the cleanest of hearts who was very mature for her age. Apart from her height and looks, anybody would have passed her off as at least a thirteen-fourteen year old from the way she spoke and behaved.

The day of the funeral, Cali returned alone home to find a letter closed with a seal addressed to her. Surprised to find it, she opened it and a couple of parchments fell on the floor. She picked them up and went and sat on the kitchen stool. She opened the letter and was shocked to read the contents and the sender. The letter was from Hogwarts School of Wizardry. She had been admitted to the Wizarding School where her mom had gone… Where her mom had met her father…

Cali shook herself out of the flashback and set her mind to the task at hand. The train ticket said to go to platform 9¾ but how was that possible? She shook her head. 'Okay, I'd come back by later,' she thought and looked over the address written in the letter for her to buy her stuff for school. Diagon Alley.

As she got out of the crowded station, Cali spotted a cab. "To Diagon Alley please," Cali aked as she got in.

The cabbie turned back looking puzzled and asked, "Where to, miss? Never heard of this place here now. Have lived in London forever, I have and not once heard about this alley. Are you sure that's the address?"

Cali stared at him for a moment and quickly got out. How the hell was she going to get there? Obviously this place wasn't known to muggles… She went to a bench near by and sat besides two old ladies. She felt like crying… She was all alone in this new place, a big city like London, for crying out loud! What was she going to do?

She suddenly overheard the old ladies talking. She heard something like 'muggle' and 'potions' being spoken. "Excuse me?" Cali asked hesitantly.

The old ladies looked at her quizzically. "Yes? Can I help you?" one asked her.

"Did you just say muggles?" Cali asked feeling quite stupid.

"And that affects you how?" the other old lady frowned.

Cali felt relieved to have found other witches to ask for help. "Actually I am new here and wanted to get to Diagon Alley but don't know how! Can you help please?"

Both the ladies looked relieved themselves for not being caught by some muggle talking about weird terms and latched on a fervent detailed address and what to find when there. After spending some time with the ladies understanding everything, Cali got up thanked them for their help and took off.

Diagon Alley was a couple of stations away and the old ladies had suggested her to take the tube. So when she reached the Charing Cross station, she got out and looked between the book store and the record shop. At first, she couldn't see anything but then a second later, there it was. The sign of The Leaky Cauldron. In she went. It was full with many witches and wizards smoking and drinking at every table. She went to the bar where the barman Tom, as the ladies had informed her, was serving pints.

"Excuse me!" Cali shouted above the din. He didn't hear her at first. Then a louder EXCUSE ME! had him blink and look at her.

"Yes?" he asked in between serving two witches who had broken out bawling their eyes out, almost literally.

Cali, after sending the two a disgusted look, replied, "I am wanting to get to Diagon Alley, please? Can you help?"

"Head out to the backyard," Tom grunted. As Cali started weaving her way through the throngs of people, he called out, "Would you be wanting a place to stay, missy? I have a couple of rooms empty upstairs…"

Cali thought that to be a brilliant idea. As she went back, she asked, "How much though?"

"Not much missy," Tom answered, "Ten galleons a night, seven if you're a student, and you get breakfast free!"

"Umm… galleons?" Cali quizzed, "Do you accept pounds? I only have that…"

"You'll want to head over to Gringotts then…" Tom stated. Then on seeing Cali's blank stare, he added, "It's a bank in Diagon Alley. You can exchange currency there. If you want, you can take the room now and pay me when you come back."

Cali thanked him and accepted his offer. He led her to the second floor to her room. As she opened it and went in, she saw a clean peach coloured room with white lace curtains. It had a bed with white linen on one side of the room under the window while a cabinet and a dressing table on the other. She could hear a bustling street outside the window. She put down her luggage and climbed up the bed to look out of the window. This was her first sight of the magical folk's hub― the Diagon Alley.

She realised even at such a young age, that she was standing at a crossroad of her life; bidding adieu to what she knew was a life till now. She had left the place she called her home behind and was embarking on a journey into this magical place, all alone. A new world altogether…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A legacy revealed**

_Two boys and a girl entered Diagon Alley to do their yearly school shopping. As two of them continued their regular bickering as friends do, one boy was looking around observing the people moving about. As he looked up at the lodgings of The Leaky Cauldron, he saw a face ― long sable coloured hair blowing with the wind, fair skin and captivating almost-golden eyes ― staring out of the second floor room window. He stopped walking and stared at the face. His friend called out as they went further down, "Hey! What happened, mate?"_

_He looked at his friends and waved. When he looked back at the window, the face was gone. He tried walking back and straining up to get a look but didn't see the face again. Soon he joined his friends and together they headed to Gringotts. The face was forgotten._

* * *

As Calista unpacked her modest bag into the cabinet, she thought of the three friends she had noticed while looking out of the window. Two were walking while chatting when the third had run up to them. The three then bent down their heads and were busy talking as they headed up the alley to wherever they were going. "I wish I get such friends at Hogwarts," Cali thought, "I don't know anyone! Oh, what am I going to do?"

After unpacking, she went down to enter Diagon Alley. She went to the back yard as Tom had said earlier. But there was only a wall there. "That's surprising!" Cali exclaimed, "I saw the Alley from my room!"

Just then a man came to the back yard and saw Cali staring at the wall. "Don't know how to get in, eh?" he sneered. His breath smelt fowl. Cali stepped back. He laughed and went to the wall. Cali observed what he did. He counted the bricks in the wall three up and two across, three times and tapped his wand. The bricks gave way to an opening. The man stepped through it. Before they could close back, Cali rushed through. And there she was finally: in Diagon Alley!

There were so many people around. Cali looked around amazed. There were so many shops selling many different stuff. She had never seen anything like this before! She couldn't understand where to start. She walked down the road dazzled by everything when she came across a sign that read _Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC _in peeling gold letters over the door. 'Oh, a wand! I'll need that for sure!' Cali thought with glee, 'My very own wand!' Her mother had promised to get her a wand when she turned eleven. 'Oh mom, I wish you were here…' Cali sniffed, but then remembered her promise to her mom, not to be sad. "Oh but I'll need money to buy anything. I must head to Gringotts first," she said to herself.

She walked to a snowy white building which towered over the shops around. She slowly passed through a set of bronze doors and then silver ones before entering the lobby. The main floor was paved with marble and has long counters stretching along its length. There were scary looking short creatures all around. 'Goblins' Cali thought, 'sure look ugly!' She walked to a counter where an old goblin sat. "Excuse me, mister," Cali asked.

"Yes," the goblin answered, "Come to get money?"

"Yes, please. I need to exchange money."

"Okay then. I need to clear few questions with you before proceeding; standard security measure."

"Of course, what is it you'll like to know?"

"Do you or your family have an account here?"

"Not that I know of. My mother used to get the money before. I never had to do it and I never accompanied her."

"Okay. Your mother's name?"

"Saphiera Faye."

"Hmm… let me check," saying this he took out a huge book from underneath his table. He opened it and went through the F section. "You do have an account here; though surprisingly not much is mentioned about it here. Wait here then." He went to an ancient looking goblin and spoke to him in hushed voice. The ancient one looked up sharply and rushed over to Cali.

"What happened to your mother, Saphiera?" he quizzed, "She is the one who came here for past 20 years…"

"She… she… she passed away," Cali sniffed, "I will be coming over from now."

"Oh… okay… didn't she tell you anything about the vault?"

"No, she just told me to go to a wizard bank, which must be this."

"You have come to the right place. I am Radagast and I have been in-charge of your vault for all my life, and my father before me, and his before him. My family has taken care of your family vault since the bank started. Your's is one of a very ancient, in fact, one of the most ancient vaults in this bank. Welcome!"

"Oh, that's strange," Cali said, "Mom never said anything."

"Well, your mom though so too," Radagast remembered, "In fact, when she first came to the bank, she wanted to open an account for herself. While doing a background check on her, as the security is of utmost importance here at Gringotts, we realised she's the current master of Fey's Castle. So I led to her to the vault, which hadn't been opened for 80 years. I will take you to your vault now, now that you have become the current master. Your vault, unlike other vaults, doesn't need any key. It will recognise you if you really are Fey's Castle master."

Cali didn't get why Radagast kept referring to her as 'Fey's Castle master' but decided to let it go for now. She followed him to a door at the right of the main room. There was a cart waiting on what looked like a rail road. "Climb in," Radagast said as he got in himself. Cali braced herself for what she thought would be a slow snail paced ride to wherever the vault was.

But she was in for a surprise. Radagast pressed a button, switched a lever and the cart started. "Hold on to the rod at the side," he said. As Cali did so, the cart lurched forward and then, zooooom, off they went at a mind boggling speed…

'WOW!' Cali thought, grinning, 'I love this ride! Woohoo!'

After 25 minutes of zooming across passages and down deep tunnels, the cart started slowing down… They had come to huge vault doors which were made of gold with lots of small knobs. They came to one such vault door which was little away from the others. The cart stopped and Radagast jumped out. "Come, here's your vault."

"This? Wow! It looks huge! Is it as huge from the inside?" Cali asked him.

He looked at her with an expression, which would if worded out mean are-you-freakin'-kidding-me. "Well, yes," he politely answered.

He asked her to stand in front of the door. He took out a small golden key from his pocket and inserted it in a keyhole right down at the left bottom corner. The knobs at the corners turned. Then he placed his hand at the left corner of the door and passed it over to the right. The knobs along the sides turned. "The door cannot be opened solely by the vault's owner or by a goblin. This being a vault of the highest security, it needs something from the owner too. But it doesn't have keys, as they can be stolen. There is one thing that people can't steal though. That is the identity and the blood. You'll have to answer a question and give a drop of blood to open this vault," Radagast informed her.

"Blood? You mean, actual blood?" Cali gasped, "And what question? I don't know any answers!"

"If you are who you claim to be then you will," Radagast simply said, handing her a pin from his pocket, "Now here's a pin, prick your thumb and let a drop of blood fall onto this crevice in the door."

"Uh-huh," Cal squirmed while taking it. She pricked herself and let the blood drop onto the crevice. The knobs on the door turned and the door opened. But there was another door inside this one. A voice boomed out:

_"The clouds part and the moon shines down,_

_ The folk rejoice, the master's come to town._

_The master asketh his people, to go forth in their quest,_

_To answer this and put your mind to the test._

_The flowers bloom, the moonlight beams,_

_Magic time every moment seems._

_Music you hear and beauty you see,_

_What day or night this be?_

_Now, dear master, to affirm it's you,_

_I ask you the same, and answer you must do._

_If you're the owner of what was kept inside,_

_The answer is within you reside."_

Radagast motioned to her to answer. Cali thought, 'I have no idea, what this means. The door said something about a master. Did it mean master of Fey's Castle as Radagast keeps referring to? And what magic time can it speak of? Flowers? Moonlight? Oh god! What am I to say?' She was about to say she doesn't know the answer when she remembered a poem her mother used to sing for her as a child.

'_Pretty girl, sleep well,_

_Go and in dreams dwell._

_The stars shine and flowers bloom,_

_Pushing away all of the gloom._

_In the moonlight, in this magic time,_

_Being sad is definitely a crime._

_Soft music, beauty and bright,_

_Come dance with me, this Midsummer's Night!'_

Then loudly, Cali said, "Midsummer's Night!"

The door slowly opened up. Radagast smiled thinly and said, "See, Fey's Castle master will always know the answer. Go on in now…"

Cali stepped inside and was shocked, to say the least. On one side of the vault wall, huge stacks of gold, silver and bronze coins were kept. The other wall had books and artefacts kept. "All this is mine? Really?" Cali's voice shook as she realised the magnitude of what she was saying.

"Yes, of course," Radagast replied, "All this, from the books to the artefacts to the money, all belongs the Fey's Castle master."

"That's me, huh?" Cali gulped. She went to the money and saw that there were different coins but she couldn't make out how much each meant. She looked back at Radagast, who was standing between the two doors. "How much is what? I have no idea."

"17 silver Sickles make one gold Galleon, and 29 bronze Knuts one Sickle," he said.

'How much should I take now?' Cali thought to herself. 'I'll take what I think I'll need for the couple of days I am here right now, then come back later for the money to take with me to school.' She took some money in her purse and then went around to the artefacts and book section of the vault. The books were huge!

"Can I take the books with me to read?" Cali asked.

"If you want," Radagast answered in a clipped voice, "But I'd suggest as I did to your mother, do so only if you know of a safe place you can keep them in. These books are very old and shouldn't be damaged. And they definitely must not fall into the wrong hands!"

"Oh, okay. I won't take them now then," Cali said, taking a step back from them. She strolled over to the artefacts side where she saw many things from chalices to belts to rings kept. What caught her eye was a silver pendant on a silver chain. It was a fairy intricately detailed with her hair flowing around her face. She held a small wand sized sceptre in her hand and a dainty tiara on her head. What shook Cali to the core was her features though. The fairy on the pendant looked exactly like her ― the same heart shaped face, high cheek bones ― the same features exactly! 'Oh my god! How can that be! How is it possible?' Her hands shook as she lifted the chain. It oddly felt heat run up from her hands to her heart. It felt as if she recognised it somehow. She put the chain around her neck. The chain was long so the pendant rested near her heart. She took a deep breath.

"Oh-kay… I think I'll go now," she told Radagast, "But I will come back later in a couple of days."

"As you wish, Ms Faye," He replied.

Cali stepped through the doors and into the cart. Radagast closed the inside door first and laid his hands on it. A definite click sound came as to tell that the door was locked again. Then he stepped out and passed his hands over the open outer door. It shut back and all the knobs turned the opposite direction. He stepped onto the cart and they zoomed back to the main lobby.

Cali stepped out of the bank after thanking Radagast. She couldn't help but think that there was so much she didn't know about herself; 'Why hadn't her mom ever said anything? Or did her mom even really know about the pendant or had she ever read any of those books to see how they had so much wealth? How come the family had an ancient vault at a wizard's bank when her mother had been muggle-born? Or had she? Was it possible that there had been some ancestor who was magical?' There were so many questions in her mind and no one to ask them to.

Then Cali thought to herself, 'Oh it's too much for me to handle right now. But I will find out the answers some day. Till then I won't worry about it. I have enough worry already with starting a new school where I'll learn magic!'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Alley wanderings**

_It was a sunny bright day. A girl sat besides a big lake resting against a tree reading. The lakeside was spotted with other kids playing or chatting. It was a beautiful day to stay indoors. As the girl was reading, she heard a shout. She looked up to see a messy hair guy streak across the field. Another with black hair was chasing after him while two others ran behind them._

_"Hey, wait up! Pro…" As the boy running behind the first came across the girl, his voice trailed off. He stopped running and came up to the girl._

_"Hi," he grinned._

_"Hi back," she smiled slightly._

_"What's that you reading? Don't tell me it's a study book," he said with a look of horror._

_The girl laughed, "It is, our exams are nearing you know!"_

_"But it's such a beautiful day to study!" the boy said as his friends came behind him._

_He grinned foolishly at her when the boy he had been chasing after suddenly said gleefully, "Oh look who we have here!" pointing towards a pale thin guy with shoulder length hair. The four who had been standing near the girl went over to surround him and started teasing him._

_The girl sighed. Just as she was about to say something, a red hair girl came running to the group. "Hey, stop that right now!"_

* * *

The next couple of days went in a dazed wonder for Cali. She strolled through the Alley from early morning till night fall. And she got a very good idea what life was going to dish out for her. Everything was so new and fascinating. Though she wasn't a muggle-born, and her mom used to use magic at home, but that was it. She had never been amongst so many wizards and witches. She sat at the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and looked at everybody around.

The first day after her visit to the bank, she went to Ollivander's. When she walked in, she saw long shelves with boxes in them. As she went to the counter, she didn't see anybody. She could hear some scraping noise, but couldn't see anybody. "Excuse me, anybody there?"

There was some more scraping noise, and a pale-eyed, white-haired head peeped from the side of a shelf. "Hello there, here for a wand? Of course, of course, what else will you be here for, eh?" he chuckled as he came ahead, "I'm Mr Ollivander. Your name, if you please."

"Calista Faye"

"Okay then, let's take some measurements. They'll help the wand to choose you."

"Help me choose a wand, you mean," Cali asked.

"No, no, my dear," Mr Ollivander smiled, "It's always the wand that chooses its master." Saying this, he took out a measuring tape and it started measuring Cali for arm length, head round, and all sorts of different body measurements.

"Okay, let's see," he went to a shelf and took out a couple of boxes. He opened one, "Try this, 7 inches mahogany with unicorn hair."

Cali picked it up, "What do I do now?"

"Oh, my child, just give it a wave" Cali did so, but nothing happened. "Try this one then. 8 ½ inches Maple wood with sparrow feather." Cali waved it but again nothing. "This one, 10 inches oak with dragon heartstring." Again, nothing. "9 inches holly with unicorn tail hair." When Cali waved this time, the box in front of her shook slightly but nothing much happened.

"Interesting," Mr Ollivanders said, "We should try some rare ones then." He went to the back of his shop and got back a two more boxes with him. "Try this now, 9 inch birch with dragon heartstring and unicorn tail hair. Rare, rare…" But, nothing. "Try this one, 7inches apple wood with boomslang venom." Again, like once before, the box in front of her moved ever so slightly. "Wait, I think that one may work for you…" Mr Ollivanders mumbled and sprinted to the back of the shop again. He came back with a box which was tightly bound by a string. "This one now, is the rarest I have ever made. Never before this had I ever ventured to do anything like this, and never after. Hmm…" he mumbled to himself. He untied the strings and opened the box. The wand was half brown and light brown in colour with a dark brown handle below a dark coloured ring which had the wood markings that looked like delicate carvings. Picking it delicately up, he offered it to Cali, "This wand I made as an experiment, it was a pride for me to have successfully have created it… I made this quite some time back but it didn't choose anyone till now… Normally, wands are made of a single wood and may have more than one core. But this I made from more than one type of wood… 11 inches half and half birch and holly wand with a hawthorn handle with a black walnut ring. The cores are phoenix feather, fairy hair and Kelpie hair. Springy with an inflexible handle."

As Cali held the wand, thinking how will such a powerful sounding wand "choose" her, warmth spread through her fingertips to her heart the moment she touched it. She waved the wand just a bit and a bright light burst out from her wand illuminating everything around and making both Mr Ollivanders and her close their eyes tight. Cali looked astounded. 'WOW!' she thought, 'wasn't that something?'

Mr Ollivanders nodded to himself with a strange expression of surprise mixed with pride. He said, "See, you can feel the difference when your wand chooses you. People can work with other wands, but the wand which chooses them gives them the best results. This wand denotes a very pure heart, child. All the different elements all point towards a person who is wholly on the side of Light. It will aid you well in Defence against Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Charms. This wand holds a lot of promise. Take care of it well." Cali was quite in awe of the whole description. She thanked Mr Ollivanders and took her wand.

She got out of there and decided to get her school robes done. She went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. As she walked in, she saw a lady in mauve robes. She looked around the store, robes of different sizes, styles and colours were hung. She walked up to the lady and asked, "Excuse me, are you Madam Malkin?"

"Yes child, I am," the lady said kindly, "So, starting school this year?" she asked as she took out a measuring tape which stared measuring on its own.

"Yes, the letter says, I need three sets of black school robes, a plain pointed black hat for day wear and a black winter cloak with silver fastenings."

Madam laughed, "Of course, you do! Would you want any other robes done too?"

"Thank you, but I don't think I'll need any," Cali replied.

"Oh my dear, you will, what about when you're home and need to go out somewhere? Why don't you call your parents, I'll ask them"

"I am… I am… alone," Cali whispered, "My mother passed away recently."

"Oh, my dear child, I am truly sorry!" Madam gasped as the measuring tape finished its measurements. "Uh… okay now, I'll have my assistants make your robe in a jiffy."

"Okay. Can I collect the robes after a little while?" Cali asked.

"Of course, dear," Madam smiled. Cali paid for the robes and went out. She then proceeded to Flourish & Blotts to get her school stuff. In the front display window, she saw an iron cage filled with hundreds of copies of _The Monster Book of Monsters._ She thought it quite weird to have such a book. Inside there she saw couple of other children buying books, ink and quills. She took out the list of books from her hand bag, and looked at it:

_'A students should have a copy of each of the following:  
_  
_Hogwarts: A History  
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot  
How Not To Blow Off Your Fingers On The First Day by Julius Gummidge  
Unexpurgated Copy of the Brother's Grimm  
The Art of Potion Making by S. Snape  
Introduction to Plants and Herbology by B. Mullohsa  
Thurston Candlewick's Complete and Extremely Useful Field Guide to Dark Creatures  
Defensive Spells and Theory by Virgil Vigilante  
Hilary Stargazer's Guide to the Galaxy  
A Changing Subject: Transfiguration Basics by Dawnie Iris_'

She collected a copy of each and a couple of quills and ink. She went to the counter with all her stuff. As the salesman took all the books and stuff and started calculating the bill, Cali started strolling around the store. She saw so many different books on different topics. She saw a book that said Fairy Magic―Exploring the Unexplored―A guide to fairy magic. She felt very intrigued by it as her wand had fairy wings as one of its core element. She picked it up too. She went ahead looking around when she came across the potion's section. She was going through the shelves when she bumped into a man wearing long black robes, making him drop the books in his hands. He was pale skinned and had greasy looking hair. "Oh, I am so sorry!" Cali exclaimed.

"Don't bother," the man sneered, without even looking at her and turned back to the shelf.

Cali sidestepped him and went ahead to see the other books. After strolling through the whole shop, she went back to the counter to add the Fairy Magic book to her pile of things. The greasy hair man was also at the counter. He noticed her pile of books, which had _The Art of Potion Making by S. Snape_ on top of the pile. He picked it up. "First year, I presume." He questioned raising one eyebrow, and looking at her. He stared at her for a second, his onyx eyes wide in an expression which could pass as shock.

"Yes," Cali answered, flustered by the stare, as the salesman handed her all her stuff, "I am really sorry for what happened. Bye." She hurried out.

Cali walked out of the shop and saw that it was already evening. So she quickly went to Madam Malkin's and collected her robes and hat and then headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to have dinner and call it a night. On reaching, she first went to her room, dropped of all her stuff and came down for dinner. Just then she remembered she had to pay Tom the rent. So after that was taken care off, she looked around if there was any place to sit. But to her dismay, all the tables were occupied. She glanced around to see one of the tables had only one occupant.

She bent her head to see who when she realized it was that man from Flourish & Blotts… She thought if she should ask him if she can sit in the empty chair, but just then the table at the other side of his table got free, so she quickly went and sat there. She looked at the table menu card and ordered hot vegetable stew with bread chunks. As the waiter went to place the order, Cali happened to catch that greasy haired man's eye. He gave her that one eyebrow look again. She didn't know how to respond to that so she just smiled and waved at him. He scowled and looked back at the book he had been reading. 'Whatever,' Cali thought. As she looked around the place, she realized she was the only one wearing denims and a tee. All others had long robes on. One woman's robes were actually changing colours and patterns every 10 minutes. This world was definitely fascinating and captivating! She had her dinner when it came and then went up to her room. It had been a long day!

The next day she got up late. After freshening up, she came down, had a little toast with jam for breakfast, and was off to the alley again. As she had a wand now (she did a quick dance in her mind) and had found out the combination to open the archway to Diagon Alley, she quickly went through. She remembered she had more supplies to buy, so she looked at the supplies' list again:

_Other Equipment:_

1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales  
1 basic potions ingredients kit  
1 set of gloves

She went to the shops which she had seen yesterday while strolling around, Potage's Cauldron Shop where she collected the cauldron and Slug and Jiggers Apothecary for the other stuff. As she finished buying the stuff, she strolled out when she came across Magical Menagerie. The letter said that one was allowed to have a cat or an owl or a toad. As she didn't have anyone to write letters to, she ruled out the owl and she wasn't much fond of toads. So she thought of buying a cat. She walked in to a very cramped place, noisy and smelly, due to every inch being covered with cages. She saw different cats lined up in cages on one side. She went there to take a closer look. She saw this white Cheshire cat not bigger in length than her hand but a beauty to look at. As she was looking at it, a man came ahead and spoke to Cali, "Oh, that one's a beauty. She is one of those miniature Cheshire. Do you want to buy it?"

"Oh yes," Cali grinned, "I do!"

"Excellent choice, I must say," the man said taking the cat out of the cage and handing it to Cali. She paid him the money and set off with her new pet. "Oh aren't you pretty?" Cali spoke to the cat, "We are going to be best of friends, yes we are! But you have to have a name of course! What should we name you? Hmmm… let me think." She came up with so many different names but kept discarding them for want of a better name. The cat looked at her with big round eyes and smiled if that's possible. "Oh, you make me think of a snow ball with your white fur… Wait, that's it! Snowball! No make that Snowbell!" So finally settling on a name for the cat, Cali meandered around the alley looking at different stores and its merchandise.

The remaining days before going to Hogwarts, she spent walking through the lanes and by-lanes of the alley along with Snowbell and discovered many different things about the magical world. A lot many things she saw and drank in every new experience. She couldn't wait for her year at Hogwarts.

* * *

A/N: This story takes place in HP's 3rd year. Though I have taken many incidents from the actual story, I have tweaked them around to suit my story's purpose.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Revelation**

_It was a moonless starry night. A girl was running in the woods, laughing. She could hear someone behind her. She looked back but saw nothing but darkness. She jumped across a fallen tree and entered a small clearing. Suddenly she heard a growl from behind. She turned back and from nowhere it seemed a large dog jumped onto her._

_She fell down on the grass, the dog above her. She was still laughing._

_'Oh, stop, you!' she laughed. The dog growled back, though it didn't sound menacing._

_She stretched her hands out and let the jet black hair, no, fur in this case, sift through her fingers. A sound rumbled inside the dog. He laid down beside her and laid his head next to her. She sighed and smiled at him._

_Then suddenly with a burst of energy, she pushed him away with a laugh, got up and starting running again._

_As she got a little away, she heard behind her, 'Sara!'_

* * *

Cali woke up suddenly. She remembered she had had a dream, but couldn't really remember much of it. She remembered though that there had been a dog in it, a big black dog. She looked at the bedside clock― 7 a.m. It was D-day today, the day she went to Hogwarts. She was still confused over the platform. She had gone once afterwards too, but still didn't get how was she supposed to go to 9 ¾ platform. Well, she planned to go early today and figure it out. She got up from her bed and freshened up. She packed up her things she had around the room. After all her things were kept in order in her trunk, she headed down for her breakfast. As she sat at a table, she noticed that there were quite some families there. 'Oh, they must have come to see their children off,' Cali thought.

Just then a big family entered the Leaky Cauldron. There were many red heads in the group. There was this mother and father and five other red heads along with a bushy hair girl and messy black hair guy with glasses. They came and sat right at the next table to Cali. They were joking around and laughing. There was an older guy who buried his head in a book as soon as he sat down. Next to him, a petite girl sat down. She like the others had flaming red hair straight down to her shoulders. She was talking to the bushy hair girl who sat down next to her holding a couple of books. Next to her sat down the boy with glasses and another red head. Then across the table, there were twin boys who were busy discussing something private. The parents sat down next to them.

Cali looked on fascinated as she ate her toast.

"Ginny, darling, you got all your things right? And Ron, you?" the mother asked.

The red head girl and the other red head next to messy head boy said in unison, "YES, mom, I did!"

Cali grinned. It brought back the memory of how her mom used to fuss over her. She had decided during the course of this week that she'll try and remember everything with a smile. Her mother would want that. She looked onto the nest table as their breakfast appeared on their table. After delivering their food, Tom approached her table, "Anything more you'd like to have?"

"Yes, some pumpkin juice, please," Cali smiled.

As Tom went back, Cali looked on at the neighboring table again. The twins had stopped whispering and were looking around the room. They saw Cali looking at their table and a slow identical grin spread on their faces. They looked at each other, got up and walked to her table. Cali looked confused.

"Hi!" one of them said.

"Hi" Cali responded hesitantly.

"We just thought we'd come over to say a hi, as you look new. First year?" the other twin asked.

"Yes" Cali looked quizzically at both of them.

"Care for a toffee?" the first twin took some from his pocket and offered them to Cali.

As Cali deliberated over whether to accept or not, the red head girl who her mother had called Ginny saw what's happening and came over. "Mom, see what Fred and George are up to!"

The mother looked up and yelled, "You two! Come back right now! Stop playing pranks on younger kids!"

As the twins sauntered back after winking at Cali, Ginny smiled at her, "Sorry if they were pestering you. They are born pranksters, you know. They can't seem to help trying to pull a fast one on someone or the other. I'm Ginny Weasley by the way. You're starting this year?"

Cali looked grateful, "I'm Calista Faye. Yes, I'm starting this year."

"Where are your parents?" Ginny looked around.

"They're not here… Umm, I'm alone."

"Oh," Ginny look startled, "You're gonna be alone boarding the train?"

"Yeah," Cali gave a lop-sided grin, "if I ever find the platform, that is!"

Ginny laughed. "Yeah, it is quite a feat for a first year! Why don't you come with us? I'll help you."

Cali looked relieved, "You will? That would be really great!"

"Come, I'll introduce to you to everybody," Ginny smiled.

Ginny led Cali over to her table and asked her mother if they could have Cali come with them to the station so that she can help out with the platform and stuff. "Why, of course, darling" the mother said, before turning over to Cali, "I'm Mrs Weasley. Come, dear why don't you join us for now?" She procured a chair between Ginny and the studious boy.

As Cali sat down, Ginny introduced her to everybody. "That's my elder brother, Percy." He looked back, gave a nod and went back to his book.

"You met Fred and George." They grinned and gave her a wave. Cali smiled. She liked them and their mischievous grins.

"This is Hermione, my other brother Ronald and you know Harry Potter of course." Ginny said as she gestured towards the messy hair guy. He was staring at her as if he'd seen a ghost.

Cali looked on surprised. Was she supposed to know him? Was he famous or something? And why was he staring at her like that?

"Umm… hi everyone!" Cali said collectively to everyone, glancing at Harry again.

Ron said to Harry, "Hey mate, cat got your tongue?"

Harry shook his head and after looking back at Cali once more, he turned towards Ron and started talking whatever they had been discussing before. But he couldn't stop throwing side glances at Cali. She felt little uncomfortable. She thought she had seen him before but couldn't place where as before this she had never been out of her little village in South Hampstead and if he'd come there before, she'd remember. And the face looked familiar...

She looked at Ginny and whispered hesitantly, "Umm, Ginny, you said as I know Harry Potter. Am I supposed to know him?"

Ginny looked shocked. "You mean, you mean, you don't know? I mean, haven't you heard? Everybody knows him! How come you haven't heard of him? He's the Boy-Who-Lived!"

"He is?" Cali looked perplexed, "Umm, I really don't know anything about him."

"Didn't your parents tell you?" Ginny still looked shocked, "Surely they know about him!"

"Well, actually, no," Cali squirmed in her seat, "My mom didn't say anything."

Mrs Weasley caught on the last bit of conversation. "You said you're here alone? Where are your parents, my dear? Were they busy with work or something today?" she smiled kindly.

"Uh-huh, no," Cali answered, "Actually, my mom passed away a few weeks back and I've never met my dad."

The table became quite. "Oh, am so sorry, my dear!" Mrs Weasley gasped.

"No problem, none of you knew," Cali shrugged.

"Don't you worry, you come with us," Ginny smiled, "I'll let you in on everybody and everything."

As everybody got up and started weaving their way to the door, Ginny launched the story of the Boy-who-Lived, You-Know-Who, his narrow brushes with death, escapades in the two previous years, etc.

Cali became cross-eyed by the end of the whole story. And it didn't really help that the subject of the story kept glancing towards her every other second. She kept trying to remember where she'd seen him before but to no avail.

After driving with the Weasleys to the King's Cross Station, she followed them to the ninth platform. She was still thinking of how to get to the 9 ¾ platform when the troupe came to a halt in front of a wall between the ninth and the tenth platforms.

"Now, Calista, all you need to do is walk straight into the wall, and you'll come to the 9 ¾ platform." Mr Weasley said.

"You mean, actually walk into the wall?" Cali looked aghast.

Fred and George chuckled at her expression. "Look at us!" the piped up and rushed towards the wall.

Cali thought they were going to crash when suddenly they disappeared. She gasped.

"See, it's quite easy. You can run if you want, that's what I do," Ginny said, "Follow me!" And she too disappeared after running towards the wall.

Cali gulped.

Hermione and Harry looked at each other. They had faced the same predicament two years back when they first came here. Harry smiled at Cali encouragingly and went with Ron ahead. Hermione took Cali with her.

As the wall approached, Cali broke into a run. Just when she thought she's going to crash, she squeezed her eyes shut.

She suddenly heard loud guffaws coming from ahead of her. She slowly opened her eyes to see the twins laughing at her expression. She saw that she was standing on a platform besides a long train with a steam engine in the front.

"And that's the Hogwarts Express!" Ginny pointed out. The group moved ahead as Mr and Mrs Weasley joined them.

"Come let's find a compartment for us before all of them get occupied," Ginny declared.

As they came to a door of the train, Mrs Weasley hugged everyone in farewell. Cali stood a little back as she felt out of place.

"Oh my dear, have a great year" Mrs Weasley said hugging Cali. Cali's eyes misted over at her gesture. Brushing away a stray tear, she smiled back at Mrs Weasley.

The train horn sounded, and everyone got on the train with their trunks.

As the train pulled out of the platform, everybody started searching for an empty compartment. Ginny came across one, with only one occupant.

She called to others and went in, Cali following.

"Hi Neville," Ginny grinned at her friend, "This is Calista Faye, Neville Longbottom."

Cali smiled at Neville. She took the window seat as everybody filed into the compartment.

As Ginny and Hermione sat besides Cali, the boys sat besides Neville.

The boys started discussing something called Quidditch while Ginny and Hermione were discussing some news of an escaped convict which was in news they'd heard over the holidays. The boys soon joined in about what they'd heard about him. Neville held out a newspaper which had a face plastered right on the front page. Cali had seen the face all over Diagon Alley with Wanted written below it.

Neville became serious all of a sudden and glanced at Harry. Hermione noticed this and asked, "What happened, Neville? What have you heard?"

"Uh…umm…My Gran said…" Neville stammered.

"What did your Gran say?" Harry asked.

"That…that… Sirius Black was arrested in the first place because he… he was the one… the one who betrayed your parents… he was the one who told He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named about where they were… And then he killed 13 muggles and Peter Pettigrew one of your parent's friend…"

The whole compartment got silent. Harry looked shocked. He sat back with a blank expression as he processed what he'd found out. Everybody looked at him, not knowing what to say.

No one noticed Cali's expression. She looked stricken. She looked out of the window to avoid her face being seen. Neville had said that man's name was Sirius Black. Cali swallowed hard. She remembered what her mother had said the night she passed away. Cali had tried to avoid remembering that night. That night when Cali had finally found out her father's name ― Sirius Black. Her father was a murderer. He was the man who betrayed Harry's parents.

* * *

A/N: I know the first question which has come to your mind that how is Calista younger to Harry. It will be explained in forthcoming chapters.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Betrayal**

_It was a warmly lit room. Four boys and two girls sat near the fire-place. The girls were sitting besides two boys in two arm chairs while the other two boys lazed around on the carpet. A red head girl was smiling down at the boy besides her who was wearing glasses and had messy hair. He oddly looked familiar. While the other girl was the same one from the forest; the same one who was playing with the massive dog – Sara. She had her arms around the boy with jet black hair. He too looked familiar. The girl Sara though was very captivating… Her long black hair, fair skin and almost golden eyes… "Just like me!" the thought came and…_

Cali woke up suddenly.

Cali became aware of her surroundings. She was in the Hogwarts Express on the way to the new school. She must have dozed off as the dreams had come back. She had been having such dreams since the day her mother passed away. They were like fragments of memories. She kept trying to piece them together but hadn't been able to till now. The girl in her dreams, Sara, she realized, was her mother Saphiera. The man with jet black hair, her… her father, Sirius Black, and the other boy with messy hair and glasses…

"Hey, are you okay?" Harry asked as he looked at Cali waking up with a blank expression. She slowly turned her head towards him and her expression turned to one of shock.

Cali gasped. The other boy looked just like Harry, the same hair, the glasses… just different eyes. Or more like Harry looked almost like him. Cali was sure the other boy was Harry's father… She had somehow seen the two, Harry's father and his murderer laughing and sharing jokes… How was that possible? Cali started shivering. She was so confused and she couldn't understand any of this. Her mother had told her father's name but hadn't been able to tell her anything more. She had taken severely ill and hadn't been able to talk after that. So apart from her father's name, she didn't know anything. Her eyes filled with tears. She bent down and hid her face in her lap.

Harry looked alarmed. "Hey, what's happening? Calista!"

The others who had also nodded off by then woke up with a start. Ginny looked at Calista and gasped. Cali was shivering a lot. Suddenly the lights in the compartment started flickering furiously. Everybody started looking around startled. There was a commotion in the passage way. Ron opened the door to look out for the reason while Ginny and Hermione tried to calm Cali. The lights in the passage were flickering too. "Hey, anybody knows what's happening?" Ron called out.

""Nope", "Is this a joke?" muttered others.

Suddenly the compartment door at the far end of the bogie opened and a haggard looking man stepped out. His wand was glowing green. Everybody looked startled. "Calm down, everybody," the man said, "Get back into your compartments please while I find out the source of this."

Everybody got quickly in but kept peeping out to see what was happening. As the man approached their compartment, Ron quickly got in. The wand light suddenly flared red as he sopped in front of the compartment. He walked in to see Cali head bent down and shivering. "Everybody, move back," he ordered, "Let me have a look. I am Professor Lupin."

As everybody stepped back, Professor Lupin crouched down besides Cali. "Hey, what happened? Look up, please."

As Cali looked up at him with tear-stained eyes, he gasped. "Are you… are you related to Saphiera Faye?"

Cali looked at the man through tear-glazed eyes. He too looked familiar. Too many people looked familiar to her these days for her comfort. Her tears broke down to sobbing and slowly ceased. The lights also ceased to flicker slowly. She nodded, "She was my mother."

"Mother!" he gasped, "Was? What do you mean was?"

"She… she passed away couple of days back…" Cali said.

"What? How? When? Oh god!" Professor Lupin exclaimed, then suddenly becoming aware of his surroundings, composed himself.

"Did you know her?" Cali asked, tears giving way to excitment at the prospect that he may be able to help her in knowing a little more.

"Yes, you can say that…" he replied, "Anyways, what just happened? All I could make out was that the lights were flickering due to sudden burst of strong magic which was originating from you when you were crying."

"Uh-huh… I am really sorry," Cali said, looking at him and the others in the compartment then staring down at her hands in her lap, "I… I really don't have control over my magic at times when I get very emotional. It… it just flows out of me… I am so sorry!"

Ginny was first to recover from the shock. "Oh, it's okay… We understand. You must be feeling upset about your mother. It must be terribly hard."

As everyone slowly settled back, Cali felt two set of yes boring into her. She looked around to see Professor Lupin and Harry looking at her. While Lupin's face showed shock and sadness, Harry was looking surprised and intrigued. Cali gulped remembering what had triggered her tears.

"Okay, then," Lupin said, rising up, "everything seems to be alright now. I better leave. See you all at the Feast." He looked at everyone. His eyes came to Harry and stopped. He whispered, "Harry Potter!" His eyes went fast from Harry to Cali and back.

"Well, yes, I am Harry," Harry shrugged, though surprised at the way Lupin stared at him and Cali.

Hermione suddenly asked, "Professor, what will you be teaching? Is it Defence against Dark Arts?"

"Yes," he answered turning towards her, "I will be. See you at the feast." As he was about to get out of the compartment, the train lurched suddenly to a stop and all the lights went off.

Suddenly a fog drifted through the train. It felt really cold. Cali gasped. She felt a cold tingling on her skin. Just then, Lupin stepped back in the compartment hearing her gasp. "What happened?"

Just then a figure glided to the door. The head was totally covered and the face couldn't be seen. The figure glanced over everybody. As it looked at Harry, it seemed to take a step ahead. Harry started twitching and fell down to the floor screaming. Cali looked frozen for a moment before screaming, "NO!" and pointed her hand at the figure.

The figure looked away from Harry and at her. It took one step towards her this time. She didn't know what to say or do but just thought hard that she wanted this person, no, this thing gone. Suddenly she felt something hot inside her. She didn't know what to do next but kept the thought constant in her head. The heat coursed through her hand which she held ahead and burst out in a flaming orange colour right at the thing. It got flung back and vanished through the compartment door and out of the train making a swooshing noise. More swooshing noises were heard before the lights came back on.

Cali saw everybody staring at her with incredulity. She squirmed under all the attention when her attention went to Harry. He was still on the floor, lying unconscious. She rushed to him. "Harry! Harry! Wake up!"

That shook everybody out of their trance. Lupin siphoned water out of his wand with an "Augmenti" charm and splashed it on Harry's face. Harry came to consciousness and looked around. Everybody was looking at him looking worried and scared. All kept glancing from the side of their eyes at Cali though.

"What happened? I just blacked out… I think I fell asleep. I had a dream, no, a nightmare!" Harry exclaimed, "I heard a woman screaming… She was shouting 'No No, don't kill him!' when a green light burst at her. I think… I think, it was my mother!" Harry looked down.

Everybody looked shocked at this. Lupin put a hand on Harry's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"What was that thing?" Ron asked.

"That was a Dementor," Lupin answered in a hushed voice, "They are the guardians of the prison of Azkaban. The school is going to be guarded by Dementors this year. Because of the break out from Azkaban. Of… Sirius Black." He seemed to have a hard time saying his name, Cali noticed. She peered at Lupin but couldn't make out.

Everyone fell silent. Neville whispered, "You think he… he… I mean, Sirius Black," Cali looked at him sharply, "will come to Hogwarts?"

"I cannot say for sure," Lupin answered, "But he has been sighted in a near-by county and the Ministry thinks he may have a vested interest in coming to Hogwarts." All eyes turned to Harry.

"What? Me? Why?" Harry quizzed.

"Well… Sirius Black was put into the prison thirteen years back after he… he…" Lupin looked at a loss of words. He looked at Harry.

"After he betrayed my parents to Voldemort!" Harry whispered. Everybody, but Cali, flinched at the name. Cali looked down at her wringing hands.

"Well, yes," Lupin said, looking pained, "And when he blew up a whole street and Peter Pettigrew along with it."

Ron's pet rat, which had been in his pocket till now, suddenly jumped out of his pocket and under the seats. "Scabbers! Come back here!"

Lupin sighed and stepped out of the compartment, after one last look at Harry and Cali. Ron emerged holding Scabbers and sat down back.

Everyone remained silent for a while. Hermione broke the silence saying, "Hey, we'll be arriving any moment now. Let's put on our school robes and clean up."

Everybody got busy collecting stuff they had taken out and putting on their robes. As the train slowly came to a stop, nobody noticed two people in the compartment lost in thoughts; one, of the person who betrayed his parents, and other, of the couple her father betrayed.

DO R&R!

HP belongs to Rowling… I do not own anything but the characters I make up for the story….

Have changed many things from original to suit my story….

anonymous-reviewer: Thanks for your review. Do ask questions, I will answer as many as I can! :)


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